Date:15/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/15/stories/2008071557310100.htm

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Metro goes ahead with two more reaches

B.S. Ramesh

BANGALORE: Bangalore Metro, despite running several months behind schedule and embroiled in court cases, has gone ahead and called for tenders for two more reaches.

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) Managing Director N. Sivasailam told The Hindu that the corporation had invited tenders for the second reach relating to construction of an elevated viaduct from Mysore Road terminus to Magadi Road and the third reach comprising an elevated section from Yeshwanthpur Terminus to Swastik (Seshadripuram).

The estimated cost of construction for the viaduct from Mysore Road to Magadi Road is Rs. 210 crore and successful bidders will be expected to complete it within 27 months from the award of contract. The bids will be opened at the BMRCL office in Shantinagar on August 8.

Similarly, the estimated cost of the third reach (from Yeshwanthpur to Swastik) is Rs. 200 crore. The date of opening this tender is August 14 and the work is slated to be completed within 27 months from the date of award of contract.

Besides these two reaches, BMRCL has also proposed direct pedestrian connectivity between the Metro Station at Byappanahalli and the railway station and also from Old Madras Road.

The traffic integration area, where Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses would be available, will be situated across the railway tracks.

The Byappanahalli station, Mr. Sivasailam says, is likely to have a host of facilities, including easy access points for the physically challenged. The State says the NGEF land across which the Byappanahalli station will come up, will be developed as a major integrated transport centre in Bangalore.